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GOD’S  JUDGMENTS,  AND  THANKSGIVING  SERMONS. 


A 


DISCOURSE, 


BY  THE 

REV.  J.  R.  W.  SLOANE, 

PASTOR  OF  THE  THIRD  REFORMED  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 
NEW  YORK. 


PUBLISHED  BY  REQUEST. 


tfeto  Yorfc: 

THOMAS  HOLMAN,  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTER,  CORNER  OF  ELM  AND  WHITE  STS. 

185  8. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/godsjudgmentsthaOOsloa 


DISCOURSE. 


Run  ye  to  and  fro  through  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  and  see  now.  and  know,  and  seek  in  the 
broad  places  thereof,  if  ye  can  find  a man,  if  there  be  any  that  executetli  judgment,  that  seeketh  the 
truth  ; and  I will  pardon  it. 

And  though  they  say  the  Lord  liveth,  surely  they  swear  falsely. 

0 Lord,  are  not  thine  eyes  upon  the  truth  ? thou  hast  stricken  them,  but  they  have  not  grieved  ; 
thou  hast  consumed  them,  hut  they  have  refused  to  receive  correction  ; they  have  made  their  faces 
harder  than  a rock  ; they  have  refused  to  return. 

Therefore  I said  surely  these  are  poor  ; they  are  foolish  : for  they  have  not  known  the  way  of  the 
Lord,  nor  the  judgment  of  their  God. 

1 will  get  me  unto  the  great  men,  and  will  speak  unto  them  ; for  they  have  known  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  and  the  judgment  of  their  God  : but  these  have  altogether  broken  the  yoke,  and  burst  the 
bonds. 

Wherefore  a lion  out  of  the  forest  shall  slay  them,  and  a wolf  of  the  evening  shall  spoil  them, 
a leopard  shall  watch  over  their  cities  ; every  one  that  goeth  out  thence  shall  be  torn  in  pieces  : 
because  their  transgressions  are  many,  and  their  backslidings  are  increased. — Jeremiah  5 : 1 — 6. 


“The  proclamation  of  the  present  truth,  notwithstanding  its 
almost  universal  neglect,  constitutes  a very  important  portion 
v of  the  faithful  watchman’s  duty. 

He  is  required  to  consider  attentively  the  course  of  divine 
providence,  to  recognize  those  principles  of  eternal  rectitude 
'■  that  underlie  it  all,  and  to  apply  those  principles  to  the  con- 
dition, and,  as  they  arise,  the  developments  of  the  age  or  the 
nation  in  which  he  lives. 

A task  of  sucli  difficulty  in  itself,  as  to  require  the  exercise 
O of  the  greatest  prudence,  caution,  and  wisdom,  that  must  neces- 
sarily bring  him  in  contact  with  the  opinions  and  prejudices  of 
men,  expose  him  to  their  opposition,  sometimes  to  hatred,  and, 

, as  often  heretofore  in  the  progress  of  the  church,  persecution. 

The  command  of  God,  however,  is  imperative  : “ Cry  aloud, 
spare  not,  lift  up  thy  voice  like  a trumpet,  and  show  my  people 


4 


their  transgression,  and  the  house  of  Jacob  their  sins.”  In  the 
second  chapter  of  Ezekiel  we  have  the  commission  under  which 
we  act,  the  divine  mandates  which  we  are  to  execute,  the  char- 
acter of  those  to  whom  we  are  sent,  and,  in  the  reluctance  of 
the  prophet,  the  feeling  which  the  performance  of  a work  so 
ungracious,  and  apparently  so  useless,  must  induce. 

The  roll  which  was  given  him  was  written  within  and  with- 
out with  mourning,  lamentation,  and  wo. 

In  the  third  chapter  he  proceeds  to  inform  us  that  he  went, 
in  bitterness,  in  the  heat  of  his  spirit,  but  with  the  hand  of  the 
Lord  strong  upon  him.  For  seven  days  he  sat  astonished  at 
what  he  saw  and  heard  among  those  to  whom  he  was  commis- 
sioned ; at  the  close  of  this  period  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
to  him  again  in  the  most  authoritative  manner  : “ Son  of  man,  I 
have  made  thee  a watchman  unto  the  house  of  Israel : therefore, 
hear  the  word  at  my  mouth,  and  give  them  warning  from  me. 
When  I say  unto  the  wicked,  Thou  shalt  surely  die,  and  thou 
givest  him  not  warning,  nor  speakest  to  warn  the  wicked  from 
his  wicked  way,  to  save  his  life,  the  same  wicked  man  shall  die 
in  his  iniquity  ; but  his  blood  will  I require  at  thine  hand. 

We  were  called  upon  during  the  past  week  to  celebrate  our 
annual  thanksgiving  under  circumstances  of  a very  peculiar 
character.  It  came  to  us,  not  as  before,  with  a countenance 
radiant  with  the  smiles  of  peace,  plenty,  and  prosperity,  but  sad 
with  commercial  ruin  and  financial  disaster — ominously  point- 
ing to  the  gory  front  of  civil  war  upon  our  western  border,  and 
to  an  approaching  winter  upon  whose  nearing  footsteps  hideous 
forms  of  want  and  suffering  attend. 

In  our  country,  suddenly,  without  any  premonitory  signs,  at 
least  none  that  men  regarded,  but  unexpectedly,  like  a clap  of 
thunder  from  a clear  sky,  a fearful  financial  storm  has  burst 
sweeping  before  it  the  accumulated  wealth  of  years,  confound- 
ing the  wisdom  of  the  wisest  statesmen  and  political  economists, 
inducing  a condition  of  things  that  no  mortal  could  foresee,  and 
for  which  all  seem  equally  unable  to  account — its  force  unspent 
and  its  fury  unabated,  it  has  reached  other  shores,  carrying 
everything  before  it  in  its  tireless  and  resistless  march.  This 
cry  of  distress  from  the  west  has  been  met  by  a wail  of  deeper 
anguish  from  the  distant  east,  where,  in  the  most  important 


5 


dependency  of  a sister  nation,  a vast  population  are  heaving 
like  the  billows  in  a storm,  in  a wide-spread  and  ruinous 
revolt.  In  the  midst  of  scenes  like  these,  we  were  called  upon 
to  observe  a day  of  thanksgiving,  “ Wonders  in  the  heavens 
above,  and  signs  in  the  earth  beneath,  blood  and  fire  and  vapor 
of  smoke/7  “ The  sea  and  its  waves  roaring  ;”  the  deep  of 
financial  ruin  calling  unto  the  deep  of  heathen  revolt — “ all 
faces  gathering  blackness/7  and  “ men’s  hearts  failing  them  for 
fear  and  for  looking  after  those  things  which  are  yet  coming 
upon  the  earth.77  Under  such  circumstances,  with  a feeling 
pervading  all  Christian  minds  that  we  would  be  more  appropri- 
ately employed  in  fasting  and  humiliation  before  God,  we  ex- 
pected a recognition  of  the  hand  that  was  thus  laid  in  judgment 
upon  us.  I appeal  to  every  Christian  heart  to  say  if  such  a 
recognition  were  not  necessary  to  meet  the  conditions  of  the 
case,  even  while  thanking  God  for  his  abundant  mercies  still 
vouchsafed  in  the  midst  of  these  great  and  sore  adversities. 

Was  it  too  much  to  expect  that  the  watchmen  upon  the  walls 
of  Zion  would  recognize  the  displeasure  of  God  in  our  calami- 
ties, and  from  his  goodness  derive  an  argument  enforcing  the 
great  duty  of  national  repentance  ? 

Thus  far  they  might  have  gone,  although  failing  to  arise  to  a 
full  conception  of  the  grandeur  of  the  divine  government,  that 
stupendous  system  whose  awful  wheels  resting  upon  earth,  are 
lost  in  the  depths  of  “ o’er  canopying  gloom,77  the  entire  admin- 
istration of  which  is  the  legitimate  subject  of  gratitude  and 
thankfulness  to  God,  even  when  manifested  in  the  way  of  signal 
judgment.  “ Let  Mount  Zion  rejoice,  let  the  daughters  of  Judah 
be  glad  because  of  thy  judgments.”  “ Zion  heard  and  was  glad, 
the  daughters  of  Judah  rejoiced  because  of  thy  judgments,  0 
Lord.” 

We  have  perused  the  greater  number  of  the  discourses  deliv- 
ered upon  that  occasion,  which  have  appeared  in  the  public 
prints,  with  a feeling  of  very  great  disappointment  in  general, 
and,  in  some  particular  instances,  of  very  deep  regret.  We 
were  not  prepared  for  so  universal  a failure  to  recognize  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  in^ur  present  condition,  far  less  to  find  the 
very  opposite  position  assumed,  and  such  an  idea  met  with  a sar- 
castic sneer,  and  pronounced  “ preposterous  profanity.”  “ Verily, 


G 


there  is  a God  that  judgeth  in  the  earth  •”  but  we  have  found 
no  recognition  of  his  power  in  these  discourses. 

With  their  authors  we  have  no  quarrel — certainly  seek  none 
— many  of  them  are  justly  esteemed  as  great  men,  distin- 
guished for  their  talents,  their  acquirements,  their  noble  mag- 
nanimity of  character,  and  for  their  genuine  piety.  The}r  are 
the  representative  men  of  the  several  denominations  with  which 
they  are  connected,  and  doubtless  fair  exponents  of  the  re- 
ligious sentiments  of  the  nation. 

For  this  reason,  we  have  the  more  regretted  the  general  tone 
of  their  discourses,  and  have  felt  it  a duty  to  call  attention  to 
them  in  this  public  manner.  They  appear  to  indicate  a state 
of  feeling  in  the  religious  world,  in  which  there  is  very  little 
sense  of  the  presence,  power,  and  authority  of  Jehovah  as  the 
moral  Governor  of  the  Universe. 

That  there  should  be  in  the  masses  no  appreciation  of  the 
overruling  providence  and  pervading  presence  of  Jehovah,  and 
consequently  no  recognition  of  his  hand  in  the  calamities  that 
oppress  and  the  misfortunes  that  afflict  us,  is  only  what  the 
whole  history  of  the  race  and  the  whole  of  experience  teaches 
us  to  expect.  The  multitudes  throng  the  broad  way ; they 
know  not  nor  will  understand  ; they  walk  on  in  darkness  ; 
their  great  characteristic  is  ungodliness , and  their  condition 
without  hope  and  without  God  in  the  world.  That  the  rulers 
should  manifest  an  utter  indifference  with  regard  to  the  whole 
matter,  is  no  ground  of  astonishment ; for,  however  much  the 
warring  and  jarring  empires  of  earth  have  differed  among 
themselves  upon  other  subjects,  they  have  all  agreed  in  this — 
an  utter  refusal  to  recognize  or  submit  to  the  authority  of  Him 
who  has  “ upon  his  vesture  and  upon  his  thigh  a name  written, 
King  op  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords.” 

They  have  ever  said,  like  their  great  type,  the  haughty  tyrant 
of  Egypt,  “ Who  is  the  Lord  that  I should  obey  his  voice  ?” 
They  continue  to  refuse  allegiance  to  the  exalted  and  enthroned 
Mediator  ; they  take  counsel  together  against  the  Lord  and  his 
anointed.  We  are  not  surprised  that,  intent  as  the  great 
mass  of  them  are  upon  their  mad  schemes  of  personal  and 
national  aggrandizements,  that  they  should  refuse  to  rccogniz* 
the  strokes  of  the  iron  rod  in  the  hand  of  Him  against  whose 


government  they  are  in  open  rebellion.  Our  astonishment  is 
reserved,  and  all  required  for  those,  the  professed,  and,  we  sin- 
cerely hope,  the  true  followers  of  the  Lamb,  who,  nevertheless, 
refuse  to  recognize  Him  in  these  inflictions  of  his  wrath. 

We  are  told,  however,  that  this  was  a day  of  thanksgiving, 
and  therefore  no  other  topic  was  admissible.  I deny  it.  With 
a feeling  pervading  every  mind  that  there  was  something  in 
our  circumstances  strangely  incongruous  with  the  occasion,  with 
such  a pressure  on  the  heart  of  this  great  community,  that  a dis- 
tinguished man,  in  a neighboring  city,  devoted  a whole  dis- 
course to  an  investigation  of  the  cause  that  enables  us  to 
preserve  our  natural  buoyancy  of  spirits.  It  certainly  required 
a sublimity  of  impudence,  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  form  a con- 
ception, to  stand  before  an  intelligent  audience  without  so 
much  as  an  attempt  to  dispose  of  the  facts  that  pressed  them- 
selves with  peculiar  urgency  upon  the  consideration  of  all. 
There  is  more,  however,  than  a simple  ignoring  of  this  severe 
chastisement.  In  one  instance,  to  which  we  have  already 
alluded,  it  was  pronounced  “ preposterous  profanity  ” to  speak 
of  our  present  condition  as  a judgment  of  God.  We  hope  this 
was  not  the  echo  of  the  sentiment  of  any  great  proportion  of 
the  religious  community.  Had  it  not  come  from  one  who 
stands  high  in  the  estimation  of  the  church,  and  who  has  the 
ear  of  the  nation,  we  should  not  have  thought  it  worthy  of 
notice.  The  religious  journals  have  not  sanctioned  it  ; in  most 
of  them  we  have  seen  at  least  a faint  recognition  ; and  in  some 
of  the  more  independent  ones  the  full  avowal  that  our  condition 
is  one  of  judgment.  Yet,  thus  far  we  have  heard  it  from  no 
pulpit,  save  from  that  noble  and  fearless  one  in  the  Church  of 
the  Puritans,  on  Union  Square. 

On  Dr.  Cheever  the  mantle  of  the  old  prophets  seems  to  have 
fallen,  and  in  him  their  spirit  is  revived : when  hearing 
or  reading  his  burning  words  and  thoughts,  we  are  ready  to 
ask,  as  the  Jews  of  John,  “ Art  thou  Elias  ?”  Long  may  he 
live  to  snatch  those  bolts  from  heaven  that  make  tyrants 
tremble  on  their  thrones. 

If  this  fearful  financial  disaster  that  has  overtaken  us  is  not 
a judgment,  pray  what  would  constitute  one?  We  have,  in 
common  with  many  of  the  greatest  and  best  in  the  land,  thus 


interpreted  it ; and  we  stand  here,  to  arraign  the  men  who 
deny  it,  on  the  authority  of  this  book,  before  the  bar  of  God 
on  the  charge  of  insulting  his  government. 

The  judgments  of  God  are  those  punishments  which  he  inflicts 
upon  nations  for  their  sins,  whether  for  warning,  for  correction, 
or  destruction.  Do  we  not  require  the  first  ? have  we  not 
deserved  the  second  ? do  we  not  merit  the  third  ? The  first- 
born dead  in  every  house,  from  the  first-born  of  the  captive  in 
the  dungeon  to  the  first-born  of  Pharoah  upon  the  throne,  was 
not  the  first  of  Egypt’s  plagues,  not  the  first  of  that  series  of 
judgments  which  culminated  in  this  fearful  infliction,  and  ended 
in  the  destruction  of  the  monarch  and  his  army  by  the  waters 
of  the  sea. 

No  ! Amid  many  grounds  of  thankfulness  to  God  this  is  no 
inconsiderable  one,  that  he  has  not  exhausted  the  vials  of  his 
wrath — that  we  have  not  been  compelled  to  drink  to  the  dregs 
that  cup  of  bitterness  which  he  commends  to  the  lips  of  guilty 
nations.  These  are  the  first  great  drops  that  precede  the 
approaching  storm — a few  of  the  coals  of  juniper  which  he 
scatters  before  he  utterly  consumes.  He  looks  through  the 
pillar  of  cloud  to  trouble  us  now  ; if  we  rush  madly  on,  he  will 
look  through  the  pillar  of  fire  to  waste  and  devour. 

What  must  we  term  this  condition  of  things  ? When  our 
benevolent  societies  are  actively  engaged  and  putting  forth 
every  effort  to  drive  the  gaunt  form  of  famine  from  the  homes 
of  thousands  around  us  ; when,  from  every  household  in  which 
an  altar  to  the  everliving  and  true  God  is  erected,  morning 
and  evening  goes  up  the  prayer  to  Him  who  provides  for  the 
birds  of  the  air,  who  gives  to  the  young  lions  their  pre^  when 
they  roar,  and  feeds  the  ravens  when  they  cry,  that  he  would 
have  mercy  upon  the  famishing  poor  in  this  inclement  season 
that  approaches. 

Is  there  not  upon  the  whole  community  a painful  apprehen- 
sion that,  notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  which  can  be  made, 
many  must  suffer  from  actual  destitution  ? Is  not  the  tramp  of 
hungry  men  already  heard  in  our  streets,  and  their  cry  for 
bread  ringing  in  our  ears  ? 

To  talk  about  abundant  harvests  to  those  who  have  nothing 
to  purchase,  is  the  crudest  mockery  ; the  want  of  means  and  of 


9 


the  opportunity  to  procure  them,  is  as  inexorable  as  the  decree 
of  fate' that  prevented  Tantalus  from  drinking  the  water  that 
rose  to  his  chin,  or  eating  the  fruits  that  hung  from  the  boughs 
almost  within  his  grasp. 

But  I must  appeal  to  the  reverend  gentleman  himself  from 
whose  lips  these  inconsiderate  words  have  fallen.  Is  that 
no  judgment  whose  voice  (to  use  his  own  eloquent  language)  is 
heard  in  the  “ cry  of  those  who  but  yesterday  knew  not  a 
want ; in  the  cry  of  the  strong  man  and  the  famishing  child  ; 
of  the  young  girl,  tempted  by  hunger,  to  a life  of  shame  ; the 
cry  of  woman,  when  her  hour  has  come,  with  no  comfort  or 
cordial  near  her  wretched  bed  ?”  With  such  scenes  around  us, 
and  the  whole  nation  consciously  tottering  upon  the  brink  of 
ruin,  what  else  shall  we  say  but  that  God  has  visited  us  in  very 
sore  displeasure  ? 

Suppose  all  this  admitted — what  then  ? Why,  then,  God’s 
hand  is  recognized  ; then  we  are  prepared  to  search  and  see 
wherein  this  great  wickedness  lieth,  we  have  the  basis  for  a 
sincere  and  speedy  repentance — the  only  mode  of  appeasing 
His  anger  in  the  present,  and  averting  dire  calamities  from  our 
country  in  the  future.  This  is  what  God  requires  of  individ- 
uals, of  churches,  and  of  nations,  who  have  forfeited  his  favor 
and  incurred  his  displeasure. 

But,  while  there  has  been  a failure  as  to  the  true  charac- 
ter of  this  chastisement,  there  has  been  a more  manifest 
one  in  attempting  to  assign  the  cause  for  which  it  has  been 
sent.  For,  while  there  has  been  such  an  almost  universal 
reluctance  to  give  it  its  true  name,  there  has  been  a very  gen- 
eral recognition  that  there  was  something  wrong,  and  that 
things  were  not  in  their  normal  state,  or,  at  least,  in  their 
usually  prosperous  condition.  It  is  called  a 'panic , and  a crisis , 
and  vague  terms  are  employed  about  gloom  and  difficulty  and 
embarrassment,  but  from  what  source  we  are  not  informed. 

Whether  it  be  from  man  or  God,  the  work  of  chance — a kind 
of  fortuitous  concourse  of  circumstances,  or  the  necessary  result 
of  determined  causes,  whether  it  is  a mere  fatherly  chastise- 
ment, or  an  incoherent  event  without  any  definite  relation  to 
God  or  his  government,  we  arc  left  to  conjecture. 

As  to  the  cause,  however,  we  have  theories  in  abundance. 


10 


Female  extravagance — the  credit  system — fast  living — rail- 
roads— the  tariff,  and  especially  the  banks — have  all  come  in, 
and,  perhaps,  all  deservedly,  for  their  share  of  influence  in  bring- 
ing about  the  result.  The  nation  has  undoubtedly  been  indulg- 
ing in  a wild  dance  of  extravagant  folly,  unconscious  of  the  gulf 
that  was  yawning  beneath — Quem  Deus  vult  perdere  prius  de- 
mentat.  Nations  as  well  as  individuals  are  sometimes  given 
over  in  awful  visitation  to  blindness  of  mind ; they  become 
more  reckless  as  they  approach  the  verge  of  national  ruin,  as 
the  laugh  of  the  maniac  is  loudest  and  wildest  when  he  leaps 
from  the  giddy  hight  upon  the  ruin  beneath.  The  mistake 
does  not  consist  in  tracing  the  effect  to  these  causes,  but  in  rest- 
ing upon  them.  “ Is  there  evil  in  the  city  and  the  Lord  hath 
not  done  it  ? ” Great  national  calamities  are  to  be  traced  to 
great  national  sins.  God  has  announced  the  law  of  his  govern- 
ment : “ For  the  nation  and  kingdom  that  will  not  serve  me 
shall  perish. h Yea,  those  nations  shall  be  utterly  wasted.  Nor 
can  a nation  more  than  an  individual  violate  God's  law  and 
expect  to  escape  with  impunity.  If  they  sow  the  wind,  they 
must  reap  the  storm ; if  they  plant  the  vine  of  Sodom,  they 
must  eat  grapes  of  gall  and  clusters  that  are  bitter.  If 
they  will  not  cease  from  their  crimes,  God  will  not  lay  aside 
his  thunderbolts.  Justice,  although,  according  to  the  concep- 
tion of  the  ancients,  /«me,  never  fails  to  overtake  the  guilty — 
her  hand  can  only  be  stayed  by  repentance.  In  our  own  na- 
tion, we  find  causes  far  more  than  adequate  to  the  production 
of  all  the  disasters  that  we  witness  ; the  wonder  is,  ngt  that  the 
punishment  is  so  severe,  but  that  it  is  not  far  more  fearful.  The 
truth  is,  and  it  may  as  well  be  told,  this  nation,  like  the  youth- 
ful criminals  in  our  streets,  has  early  attained  maturity  in 
crime — why  not  confess  it  and  repent  before  God  ? What  is 
the  proper  course  for  an  individual  who  realizes  that  he  has 
incurred  God's  displeasure  ? Is  it  not  to  seek  out  his  sin,  con- 
fess it,  repent,  and  pray  to  God  for  that  forgiveness  which  He 
alone  can  confer.  I have  yet  to  learn  that  there  is  any  other 
course  provided  in  God's  word  for  nations. 

But,  unfortunately,  of  all  nations,  perhaps,  we  are  the  most 
sensitive  to  any  mention  of  our  faults,  and  therefore  so  very 
reluctant  to  acknowledge  them  either  to  man  or  God.  It  is  a 


11 


maxim  in  the  British  government  that  “ the  king  can  do  no 
wrong/7  because  I believe  he  has  a convenient  method  of  hand- 
ing over  his  sins  to  the  parliament.  “ We,  the  people/7  claim 
the  sovereignty  in  this  land,  and  apply  to  ourselves  the  same 
maxim.  A kind  of  demoniacal  infatuation  has  taken  possession 
of  us,  and  we  persuade  ourselves  that,  in  our  national  capacity, 
at  least,  we  have  attained  a state  of  sinless  perfection ! We  do 
not  require  even  a parliament  upon  whose  shoulders  we  might 
lay  the  burden  of  our  national  iniquities.  Measured  by  our 
opportunities  and  professions,  weighed  in  the  balance  of  the 
sanctuary,  and  viewed  in  the  light  of  the  blessings  that  a mer- 
ciful God  has  bestowed,  we  will  be  found  among  the  most  guilty 
nations  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  indeed,  it  would  not  be  diffi- 
cult to  prove,  the  very  guiltiest . Point  me,  who  can,  to  any  civil- 
ized or  professedly  Christian  nation,  to  whose  charge  such  a 
sin  as  American  slavery  can  be  laid,  or  one  at  all  comparable 
to  it.  Men  may  deny,  denounce,  deride — say  just  what  they 
may — but  there  it  is,  the  foul  “ damning  spot 77  upon  our  national 
escutcheon,  that  “ won’t  out 77 — that  makes  us  the  by-word  and 
the  reproach  of  nations,  Avliile  the  pitiful  eagerness  with  which 
our  divines  stand  ready  to  apolog-izo  for  and  defend  it,  fills  the 
hearts  of  Christians  all  over  the  world  with  grief  and  shame, 
and  the  mouth  of  infidelity  with  an  argument  to  which  we  have 
no  reply  but  a blush. 

Dr.  Baird — and  we  respect  him  personally  as  well  as  publicly, 
as  highly  as  we  can  any  one  who  in  any  shape  undertakes  to 
apologize  for  slavery — seemed  to  think  that  he  had  frightened 
the  whole  religious  ivorld,  or  at  least  the  British  portion  of  it, 
by  threatening  to  introduce  the  subject  of  the  “ opium  trade/7 
should  any  mention  be  made  at  the  Evangelical  Alliance  of 
American  slavery.  The  old  gentleman  seemed  to  forget  that 
that  particular  branch  of  commerce  was  not  under  the  special 
protection  of  any  religious  denomination.  That  all  the  pulpits 
in  the  “three  kingdoms77  would  be  open  to  him  or  any  one 
else  to  denounce  it  as  vehemently  as  they  chose,  and  that  had 
its  introduction  into  the  discussions  of  the  Alliance  been  at  all 
proper,  not  a mouth  would  have  been  opened  by  way  of  apology 
or  defense.  We  were  sorry  to  sec  such  a silly  threat,  and  did 
we  not  entertain  for  Dr.  Baird  such  feelings  of  genuine  respect, 

LIBRARY  

UNIVERSITY  OF 


12 


would  be  tempted  to  commend  him  to  the  celebrated  prayer  of 
Robert  Burns — it  would  save  him  from  such  a blunder  in  the 
future.  God  grant  that  the  day  may  soon  dawn  when  these 
defenders  of  a system  so  foul  and  abominable  may  see  them- 
selves in  the  light  in  which  other  Christians  view  them.  How 
fearfully  absurd  for  us  to  talk  about  the  sin  of  Britain  in  with- 
holding the  Bible  from  the  schools  established  in  India,  while 
we  are  silent  as  the  grave  with  regard  to  the  four  millions 
of  slaves  on  whose  necks  this  nation  has  the  iron  heel  of  its 
power,  and  from  whom  it  withholds  the  words  of  everlasting 
life. 

Nor  is  slavery  by  any  means  the  only  sin  with  which,  as  a 
nation,  we  are  chargeable.  Our  constitution  of  government, 
and  its  administration,  are,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  atheistic, 
ignoring  the  existence  of  God  and  every  institution  that  he  has 
established  among  men.  This  constitution  was  formed  at  a 
period  when  this  country  and  Europe  were  both  overrun  by  the 
principles  of  French  infidelity,  by  men  who  were  notoriously 
sceptical,  and  by  whom  all  recognition  of  God  was  purposely 
excluded  from  this  “ remarkable  document/*7  This  no  one  can 
deny  who  has  any  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  this  period. 
Read  the  life  of  Dr.  Dwight,  and  you  will  learn  that  the  work 
which  lie  and  his  noble  compeers  performed,  and  for  which  they 
deserve,  and  will  receive,  the  lasting  gratitude  of  Christians, 
was  the  extirpation,  to  a very  great  extent,  of  its  fatal  and  per- 
nicious influence  from  the  land  ; a work,  however,  which,  unfor- 
tunately, they  never  accomplished  in  the  State , as  to  its  con- 
stitution or  administration,  and  which  remains  to  this  day,  in 
both  respects,  as  thoroughly  infidel  as  it  was  at  its  organiza- 
tion. But  very  recently,  as  you  are  doubtless  all  aware,  our 
minister  to  France  presented  his  credentials  upon  the  Sabbath, 
a compliment  perhaps  to  the  cofd-blooded  usurper  who  rules 
that  infidel  nation,  but  an  insult  to  the  religious  sentiment  of 
the  country  which  he  represented.  Can  it  be  denied  that  this 
nation  acquired  the  greater  portion  of  her  territory  by  means 
the  most  unwarrantable  and  unjustifiable  ? The  wars  with  the 
Winnebagoes  in  the  north  and  the  Seminoles  in  the  south,  are 
yet  fresh  in  our  memory,  while  the  revelations  of  the  “ Indian 
Aid  Society”  recently  organized  in  this  city,  but  too  clearly 


13 


show  that  there  is  no  material  alteration  in  the  general  course 
of  her  policy  to  that  unhappy  race. 

Toward  weaker  and  neighboring  nations,  her  conduct  has 
been  overbearing,  unjust,  and  oppressive.  Who  is  unmindful  of 
the  late  disgraceful  war  with  Mexico  ? or,  who  is  ignorant  that 
these  filibustering  expeditions,  which  have  done  so  much  to 
render  our  very  name  odious,  are  fitted  out,  and  pass  from  our 
shores  under  the  very  eye,  and  with  the  connivance  of  the  officers 
of  the  government — the  President  not  excepted  ? 

What  shall  we  say  of  the  existence  of  idolatry  in  its  worst 
forms  in  California,  and  in  this  city,  under  the  operation  of  our 
spurious  ideas  of  universal  toleration,  or  of  the  manner  in 
which  she  has  fostered  that  foul  band  of  miscreants  on  our 
western  border,  who  now  defy  our  arms  and  affront  our 
power  ? 

These  are  all  the  legitimate  offspring  of  that  proton  pseudos 
with  which  this  nation  commenced  its  career,  the  determination 
to  separate  religion  from  all  connection  with  the  constitution 
and  administration  of  the  government.  When  she  declared  her 
independence,  she  uttered  great  truths  upon  the  rights  and 
equality  of  man ; but  as  soon  as  that  boon  was  secured,  she 
gave  the  lie  to  her  professions  by  riveting  more  tightly  the 
fetters  upon  the  unhappy  bondsmen  in  her  power.  “ A golden- 
mouthed deelaimer  77  has  pronounced  the  declaration  of  in- 
dependence glittering  and  sounding  generalities,  and  the  policy 
and.  practice  of  this  nation  show  that  in  her  mouth  it  was,  and 
is,  nothing  else.  Yes,  something  worse,  glittering  and'sounding 
falsehoods. 

Thus  must  it  ever  be  with  nations  who  refuse  allegiance  to 
God  and  his  Christ,  who  will  not  accept  of  his  law  as  their 
rule,  and  his  Son  as  their  Ruler.  Who  will  not  acknowledge 
Him  to  whom  every  knee  should  bow  and  every  tongue  confess, 
and  who,  consequently,  have  no  standard  of  reetitude  by  which 
their  national  policy  may  be  guided. 

Now,  what  is  our  present  position  ? Like  Israel  of  old, 
“ cursed  with  a curse/7  and,  for  the  same  reason,  we  have 
11  robbed  God  even  this  whole  nation.77  Open  rebellion  in 
Utah — civil  war  imminent  from  the  Kansas  imbroglio — every- 


14 


where  financial  ruin  and  distress — gloomy  forebodings  of  still 
more  disasters  upon  every  mind,  like  the  toppling  rock  of  Tan- 
talus ready  to  fall  at  any  moment,  or  the  drawn  sword  of 
Damocles  suspended  by  a single  hair — the  streams  of  national 
wealth  dried  up  like  waters  in  tliQ  desert,  and  the  nation 
reeling  upon  the  brink  of  a general  bankruptcy. 

Men  may  talk  about  our  recuperative  energies,  our  vast 
resources,  our  indomitable  spirit  and  perseverance,  or  laugh  at 
the  idea  of  calling  this  a state  of  judgment,  and  pipe  to  the 
syren  song  of  peace  and  prosperity,  but  all  this  will  not  remove 
the  incubus  which  just  now  rests  with  such  crushing  power 
upon  the  national  heart.  We  may  close  our  chamber  doors, 
draw  the  blinds,  fasten  the  shutters,  pull  down  our  niglit-caps 
comfortably  over  our  ears,  but  all  this  will  not  still  the  storm 
that  is  raging  without. 

The  stale  commonplaces  about  our  glorious  constitution,  our 
free  institutions,  our  inviolable  Union,  our  vast  material,  wealth, 
etc.,  seem  sadly  out  of  place  just  now.  “ Wild  laughter  in  the 
throat  of  death.” 

Let  us  take  God’s  plan  : “ Turn  ye  even  to  me  with  all  your 
heart,  and  with  fasting  and  with  weeping  and  with  mourning, 
and  rend  your  heart,  and  not  your  garments,  and  turn  unto  the 
Lord  your  God,  for  he  is  gracious  and  merciful,  slow  to  anger, 
and  of  great  kindness,  and  repenteth  him  of  the  evil,  who 
knoweth  if  he  will  return  and  repent,  and  leave  a blessing 
behind  him,  even  a meat-offering  and  a drink-offering  unto  the 
Lord  your  God.  Let  the  bridegroom  go  forth  of  his  chamber, 
and  the  bride  out  of  her  closet  ; let  the  priests,  the  ministers  of 
the  Lord,  weep  between  the  porch  and  the  altar,  and  let  them 
say,  spare  thy  people,  0 Lord,  give  not  thine  heritage  to  re- 
proach. Behold,  the  hire  of  the  laborers  who  have  reaped 
down  your  fields,  which  is  of  you  kept  back  by  fraud,  crieth  ; 
and  the  cries  of  them  which  have  reaped  are  entered  into  the 
ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth.  Ye  have  lived  in  pleasure  on  the 
earth,  and  been  wanton  ; ye  have  nourished  your  hearts  as  in 
a day  of  slaughter.  Ye  have  condemned  and  killed  the  just, 
and  he  doth  not  resist  you.” 

“Wherefore,  0 king,  let  my  counsel  be  acceptable  unto 


15 


thee,  and  break  off  thy  sins  by  righteousness,  and  thine  iniqui- 
ties by  showing  mercy  to  the  poor  if  it  may  be  a lengthening  of 
thy  tranquility.” 

“ Loose  the  bonds  of  wickedness  ; undo  the  heavy  burdens  ; 
let  the  oppressed  go  free  ; break  every  yoke.” 

This  is  God’s  remedy  for  such  calamities  as  now  afflict  our 
nation.  We  propose  it,  with  a high  degree  of  confidence  in  its 
efficacy — with  little  hope  of  its  adoption.  We  hear  already 
that  this  is  altogether  impracticable.  So  it  has  proved  to  be  in 
the  history  of  the  nations  in  the  past,  and  we  fear  will  be  in 
the  history  of  the  nations  for  many  years  in  the  future.  But 
let  them  remember  that,  while  justice  and  repentance  have  been 
impracticable  upon  their  parts,  in  the  government  of  God — 
righteous,  but  awful — their  utter  destruction  and  annihilation 
have  proved  perfectly  practicable.  Let  professed  Christians, 
ministers,  and  churches,  who  incorporate  with  such  corrupt, 
God-dishonoring,  and  God-despising  organizations,  who  flatter 
and  fawn  upon  ungodly  rulers,  and  who  are  ready  to  apologize 
for  any  iniquity,  however  enormous,  provided  the  nation  does 
it,  remember  that  this  is  the  law  of  God’s  government,  that 
those  who  partake  of  their  sins  shall  receive  of  their  plagues. 

We  have  spoken  plainly,  and  with  a full  knowledge  of  all 
the  prejudice  and  opposition  that  such  language  is  calculated  to 
excite,  but  not  the  less  confidently  as  to  its  truth.  It  is  a small 
matter  to  be  judged  of  man’s  judgment.  We  must  all  appear 
before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ.  If  our  principles  are  not 
adapted  to  this  age  we  can  afford  to  wait.  The  kingdoms  of 
this  world  will  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ,  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it. 

Though  the  nations  forget  God,  he  does  not  forget  them  ; but 
when  they  least  expect  it,  arises  from  his  place,  arrays  himself 
in  the  garments  of  vengeance,  and  makes  them  feel  the  awful 
power  of  his  vindictive  wrath.  Thus  will  he  continue  to  tread 
them  in  his  anger,  to  trample  them  in  his  fury,  to  break  them 
a.s  a potter’s  vessel,  until  they  submit,  recognize  the  authority 
of  his  Son,  and  give  the  glory  to  his  name  that  is  due. 

There  must  be  a fearful  conflict  between  the  church  and  the 
world-powers  before  Zion  can  appear  in  her  glory  and  her 


16 


beauty ; and  the  sooner  the  trumpet  is  blown  and  the  battle 
begun,  the  better  for  her  and  the  world.  On  whose  standard 
victory  will  perch  is  not  uncertain. 

The  Lord  God  in  the  midst  of  her  is  mighty ; he  will  hasten 
it  in  his  time. 

Be  wise  now,  therefore,  0 ye  kings  ; be  instructed  ye  judges 
of  the  earth.  Kiss  the  Son  lest  he  be  angry,  and  ye  perish  from 
the  way  when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but  a little.  Blessed  are 
all  they  that  put  their  trust  in  him.  Amen  and  amen. 


